Interlocking arrangements

ABSTRACT

The coupling of two plate-shaped elements be means of an interlocking arrangement formed along the edges of the elements. The locking members of one element are in resilient engagement with identical locking members on the other element, the thickness of the individual locking members being half the thickness of the element and the members being staggered alternately to one side and the other of a plane through the center of the edge parallel to the side faces of the element.

United States Patent Christiansen 51 June 6, 1972 541 INTERLOCKINGARRANGEMENTS 757,812 4/1904 Keyes ..287/20.92 T [72] Inventor: godtfretlKirk Chrlstiansen, Billund, FOREIGN PA'IENTS 0R APPLICATIONS enmar564,917 1958 B l 2 5 [73] Assignee: lnterlego A.G., Zug, Switzerland e8mm 5 l 90 [22] Filed: June 29, 1970 Primary Examiner-Louis G. ManceneAssistant Examiner-T. Q. Lever [21] Appl' 50384 Attorney-Stevens, Davis,Miller 8: Mosher [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACTJuly 3, 1969 Denmark ..361 1/69 The coupling f two p]ate shaped dememshe means f an terlocking arrangement formed along the edges of the ele-[52] US. Cl ..46/30 mems The locking members f one element are iresilient [5 1 hilt. Cl. 33/06 engagement with identical locking memberson the other [58] Field of Search ..46/30, 287120.92 T men, thethickness of the individual locking members being half the thickness ofthe element and the members being stag- [56] References Cned geredalternately to one side and the other of a plane through UNITED STATESPATENTS the center of the edge parallel to the side faces of theelement.

357,144 2/1887 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Buttler ..287/20.92 T

This invention relates to an interlocking arrangement for coupling twoplate-shaped elements together along an edge thereof.

It is known to couple two plate-shaped elements together along an edgethereof by means of locking members such as a tongue on one element anda groove in the other element. This is used for instance in the buildingindustry when putting down floors. Also other forms of coupling may beused for joining plate-shaped elements for various purposes. These knowncouplings are not in themselves particularly sturdy and the elements mayeasily work loose if no extra binding material such as glue or nails isused. It is also a drawback that the locking members are not identicalon the two elements to be coupled together but consist of for instance atongue on one and a groove in the other element, so that the membersmust be placed in a certain relationship before being coupled.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide an interlockingarrangement for coupling two plate-shaped elements together along anedge thereof, in which the said drawbacks have been obviated and whichis particularly, though not exclusively, suitable for use in connectionwith plate elements of toy building sets.

The interlocking arrangement according to the invention ischaracteristic in that it comprises a plurality of locking membersformed along the edge of each element, staggered alternately to one andthe other side with respect to a common plane extending between andparallel to the side faces of the element and distributed along the edgeso that the surface of each locking member facing the common plane onbeing coupled will abut the corresponding surface of a locking member ofthe other element and form resilient engagement therewith.

By means of a locking arrangement like this the elements can be coupledand released readily and repeatedly without affecting the efficiency ofthe members because the locking members of one element are in resilientengagement with the corresponding locking members of the other element,and when the elements are to be released the friction resulting chieflyfrom this resilient engagement must be overcome. The friction thusprevents undesirable slackening of the coupling. Moreover, the lockingmembers are formed to be exactly alike on the two elements, whichtherefore need not be turned a certain way relatively to each other asin a tongue-groove coupling.

In a very practical and expedient embodiment of the invention thelocking members are identical and in the direction parallel to the sidefaces of the elements of rectangular or square configuration and aredisposed without intervening space along the coupling edge. In thismanner the coupling edge is utilized in its entire length and a veryefiective coupling provided.

In another embodiment the surfaces of the locking members facing thecommon plane are provided with a supplementary locking arrangement,whereby an improved locking effect between the elements has beenachieved.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the supplementary lockingarrangement is formed by a section of the surface facing the commonplane which has been inclined slightly with respect to the plane so asto increase the thickness of the locking member towards the element andform a raised portion and a recessed portion parallel to the edge forengagement with corresponding recessed and raised portions of theelement with which it is to be coupled. Here, too, all the lockingmembers of the interlocking arrangement are completely alike.

The invention will be explained in greater detail below with referenceto the drawing, in which FIG. 1 presents a perspective view of twoplate-shaped elements provided with an interlocking arrangementaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same elements after being cou led,and

G. 3 shows in perspective an interlocking arrangement with a lockingmember on each of the two plate-shaped elements on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 1 shows a plate-shaped element A and a second plateshaped elementB. Each of the two elements is provided with one-half of an interlockingarrangement, 1A and 1B respectively, for being coupled together alongone edge thereof. The interlocking arrangement comprises a plurality oflocking members formed along the edge, on the element A designated a,, 0a a a, and on the element B designated 11,, b b 17,, b Of the lockingmembers of element A a a a are staggered to one side and members a a.,,a to the other side relatively to a common plane which is parallel tothe side faces of the element and preferably, though not necessarily,spaced equally from the two side faces of the element. The lockingmembers of the element B: b 1: b and b,, b b are staggered in the sameway, and when the elements A and B have been coupled together as shownin FIG. 2, the surface of locking member a, facing the common plane willresiliently abut the corresponding surface of the locking member b andall the following locking members will be similarly engaged: a b a -,b ab The locking members are preferably, as shown in the drawing, identicalin shape and in the direction parallel to the side faces of the elementsof rectangular configuration. They are also preferably disposed withoutintervening space along the entire coupling edge, which is therebyutilized in its full extension.

On the surface facing the common plane the individual locking membersmay with great advantage be provided with additional lockingarrangements, as illustrated in FIG. 3. This figure shows a single pairof locking members, for instance a b of elements A and B. A section, 11and b respectively, of the surface facing the common plane is inclinedslightly with respect to the plane so that the thickness of the lockingmember increases towards the corresponding element so as to form araised portion 0 and a recessed portion 0 in the locking member a; and araised portion b and a recessed portion b in the locking member b Whenthe elements A and B are coupled together the surface section 0 willslide on surface section b whereby the locking members will yieldslightly until the raised portion a engages the recessed portion b andthe raised portion 12 engages the recessed portion a The locking of themembers provided in this manner will require a greater initial force torelease when the members are to be separated.

What I claim is:

1. An interlocking arrangement for coupling two plateshaped elementstogether along one edge thereof, said arrangement comprising a pluralityof substantially identical locking members disposed along one edge ofeach element extending an equal distance from said edge and staggeredalternately to one side and the other with respect to a common planelocated between and extending parallel to the side faces of the element,the arrangement of said locking members being such that, in a pair ofassembled plate elements, the surface of each locking member of oneelement facing the common plane will resiliently abut and befrictionally held against a corresponding surface of a locking member ofthe other element.

2. An interlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which thesurface of each locking member facing the said common plane is slightlyinclined relatively thereto, so as to gradually increase the thicknessof the locking members towards the element, and is provided with a beadat one end and a groove at the other end of said surface.

1. An interlocking arrangement for coupling two plate-shaped elementstogether along one edge thereof, said arrangement comprising a pluralityof substantially identical locking members disposed along one edge ofeach element extending an equal distance from said edge and staggeredalternately to one side and the other with respect to a common planelocated between and extending parallel to the side faces of the element,the arrangement of said locking members being such that, in a pair ofassembled plate elements, the surface of each locking member of oneelement facing the common plane will resiliently abut and befrictionally held against a corresponding surface of a locking member ofthe other element.
 2. An interlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1,in which the surface of each locking member facing the said common planeis slightly inclined relatively thereto, so as to gradually increase thethickness of the locking members towards the element, and is providedwith a bead at one end and a groove at the other end of said surface.